Heavy rains batter south Gujarat, Saurashtra; Navsari, Junagadh cities worst hit
Ahmedabad, Jul 22: Heavy to very heavy rains pounded several districts in Gujarat's south and Saurashtra regions on Saturday, triggering a flood-like situation in urban areas and isolating villages amid rising water levels in dams and rivers surging to danger levels.
In Junagadh city, dozens of parked cars and cattle were swept away in gushing waters after it received 219 mm of rain in 8 hours till 4 pm on Saturday. People were seen wading through waist-deep water to shift to safer places, while some of them were rescued by volunteers as they were carried away in strong currents.
Navsari and Junagadh were among the worst affected districts due to the torrential downpours that led to a deluge in several residential pockets and marketplaces.
Authorities requested people to take precautions and urged them to contact the control room in case of any untoward incident or emergency situation. People were warned to not visit dams and surrounding areas.
Rescue teams were pressed into service to shift people living in low-lying areas to safer places.
In south Gujarat, heavy rains pummelled Navsari district where normal life was thrown out of gear in urban and rural areas due to flooding. Navsari and Jalalpore talukas of the district received 303 and 276 mm of rainfall, respectively, between 6 am and 4 pm, said the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC).
A father-son duo was swept away in a swollen drain in Navsari city. While the man was rescued, efforts were underway to trace the son, an official said.
Over 200 mm of rainfall in a few hours on Saturday morning overwhelmed the city's drainage system, with water spilling onto roads and low-lying areas. It caused massive traffic congestion in the city, and the situation was brought under control through a coordinated effort, additional collector Ketan Joshi said.
Water gushed into a godown storing empty gas cylinders after a wall collapsed there, washing away the LPG containers, Joshi said, adding that the district supply department was looking into the matter.
Heavy showers also caused traffic jams on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway near Navsari due to flooding, officials said.
In another incident, a father-son duo drowned after their car got washed away near Silvassa town of Dadra and Nagar Haveli district in the Union Territory neighbouring Gujarat. The two were caught by fast-moving waters on Friday night when they were trying to cross over a low-lying bridge.
A rescue team recovered the car and their bodies inside the vehicle on Saturday afternoon, an official said.
Devbhumi Dwarka, Bhavnagar, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi, Valsad and Amreli were among other districts that received heavy rainfall on Saturday, the SEOC said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rainfall in south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch districts till Sunday morning. Heavy to very heavy rainfall will continue in many other districts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch during the next three days, the IMD said.
The IMD also warned fishermen to not venture along and off the north Gujarat coast from July 22 to July 26 saying squally weather conditions were very likely to prevail during this period.
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Delhi sees 140 per cent rise in fire calls in April as city reels under intense heat
New Delhi (PTI): As temperatures climb across the national capital, fire incidents have surged sharply, with the Delhi Fire Services responding to over 3,200 calls this month until April 26, even as daily calls have risen by around 140 per cent compared to the pre-April period.
Before April, the department was receiving around 70 to 80 calls daily, which has now increased to nearly 190 to 200 calls per day, especially since last Monday, amid the ongoing spell of heat, an official said.
"Heat alone is not the only factor, but it is certainly a major contributing one," a DFS official told PTI, adding that as temperatures rise, the load on electrical infrastructure increases significantly.
"Air conditioners run continuously, wiring heats up, and transformers operate under stress, which raises the chances of short circuits and fire incidents," the official explained.
The official further added that the weather is also extremely dry at this time, which compounds the vulnerability, making even a small spark dangerous.
Once a fire starts, it tends to spread faster than usual under such conditions, he said.
"We do observe a seasonal rise in fire incidents during summer months every year, but this time the increase has been sharper," the official underscored, adding that the combination of sustained high temperatures, dry winds and increased power usage is making the situation more challenging.
"Our teams are on alert and responding to a significantly higher volume of calls on a daily basis," the official emphasised.
The spike in fire calls comes as Delhi continues to reel under high temperatures, fluctuating between 40 and 42 degrees Celsius in recent days.
On April 25, the city recorded a maximum of 42.8 degrees Celsius, 5.1 degrees above normal, making it the highest April temperature recorded in the last four years, since 2022 when the mercury had reached 43.5 degrees Celsius on April 28.
On Monday, at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, the maximum temperature was recorded at 42.3 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees above normal, making it the second-hottest day of the month.
Palam also recorded a maximum of 42.3 degrees Celsius, about 2.1 degrees above normal, while Lodhi Road logged 42.4 degrees Celsius, about 4.4 degrees above normal.
The Ridge station recorded the highest maximum at 43.8 degrees Celsius, about 4.3 degrees above normal, followed by Ayanagar at 43.2 degrees Celsius, around 3.7 degrees above normal.
However, some respite is expected in the coming days, with the weather office forecasting thunderstorms, gusty winds and light rain from Tuesday onwards, which could bring a dip in temperatures next week.
